Lately it's been "battle of the social networks" as Google first unveiled "Google+", which allows you to add friends to "circles" and then, when writing or sharing a post or photo, you select which circles to share with. This addresses a common complaint among Facebook users that they have to share everything "en masse" or not at all. Additionally, Google+ offers a 10-person video chat feature called "Hangouts," which has received better buzz thus far than the also recent Facebook/ Skype product that allows you to make video calls to your friends while using Facebook.

All of this dueling has resulted in some fairly humorous commentary, including a much-shared comic strip mocking the entire "face-off" (as it were). Read more in this edition about these two game-changers.

Maura Nelson
Bizzuka Marketing Director/ eBurst Editor

In this corner ... Google+

Google+ is Google's latest attempt at building a social network. So far, Google+ is an invitation-only network but there are plans for a public roll-out soon . . . More >

In the opposite corner ... Microsoft/Facebook with Skype

It was just a few months back that we blogged about the $8.5B Microsoft/Skype marriage and our systems administrator, Matt Lang, predicted Microsoft would likely "rewrite or replace the product with their own variation." Lang was just a hair off. Instead, Facebook (where Microsoft owns a minority stake) was allowed to revamp Skype where Facebook users can video-chat with FB friends. Microsoft and Facebook's deepening friendship began earlier this summer when Microsoft announced the addition of "500 million more friends” to help make search more social (details featured in May eBurst). Here at Bizzuka we are conducting our own product testing and will report back, but in the meantime, get yourself set up and let us know how it goes!

Who uses smartphones?

Smartphone adoption is highest among the affluent and well-educated, the (relatively) young, and non-whites (Pew Internet & American Life Project). Users describe them as:

In its first standalone measure of smartphone ownership, the Pew Internet Project finds that one third of American adults – 35% – own smartphones. The Project’s May survey found that 83% of US adults have a cell phone of some kind, and that 42% of them own a smartphone. That translates into 35% of all adults . . . More >

Just a reminder that Bizzuka’s client support site has a video training library with easy instructions on many of our most popular components including the Photo Gallery, Events Calendar, and Biographies! Recently this valuable resource was updated so be sure to visit!

Bizzuka eBurst is a newsletter designed to help you leverage your website to increase business, notify you of enhancements and upgrades made to the software and keep you informed about all the great things happening at Bizzuka. Subscribers welcome.